


Poetry and Polish (MtG Month of the Ship Day 2 - First Date)

by Wolkemesser



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/F, Kaladesh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-05 10:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18363755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolkemesser/pseuds/Wolkemesser
Summary: Part of the MtG Month of the Ship. Saheeli takes her new extraplanar gf to watch a construct showdown.Takes place between Rivals of Ixalan and War of the Spark :)





	Poetry and Polish (MtG Month of the Ship Day 2 - First Date)

Saheeli rarely felt nervous before a match.

True, there was always the thrill of the competition. The rush of adrenaline that came from the clash of metal and hair-trigger nerves needed to win, but she went into every match assured that she would emerge victorious, or learn something valuable in the process.

Today the stakes were higher. Today, she had someone to impress. 

“Saheeli!”

Huatli was waving at her from the stands not far from where Saheeli stood in the arena. Her face framed by that radiant red-and-silver headdress. She seemed excited about the match, but there were very few things in Ghirapur that hadn’t piqued Huatli’s interest so far.

Saheeli felt a pang of guilt. She had spent the first week after Huatli’s arrival showing her all the sights, people, and creations of Ghirapur, in exchange for Huatli’s stories of her own world. Those stories had been so vivid that she forgot entirely about showing her new companion the city, and had begged to hear more about the creatures and places of Ixalan.

They had spent days holed up together in her workshop, Huatli reading her poems, Saheeli making sketches and shaping metal to bring her words to life. They had shared an intense week of frustrations working through miniaturized versions of the creatures, sharing meals and talking long into the night from the bedrolls stuffed in the corner of the workshop. Despite their different backgrounds, Saheeli had felt so strongly and undeniably drawn to the other woman’s enthusiasm, her lively spirit, and her ability to find wonder in all the things that were commonplace on Kaladesh. It was almost without thinking that she had insisted Huatli come and watch her duel in the arena.

She was sure Huatli had understood what she meant when she called the invitation a date. And then there had been the kiss on the cheek when they finally got the tyrannosaur construct to stand with its tail properly balanced, but that had been a week ago, and Huatli had spent the time since exploring the city with others; citizens who already knew of the existence of planeswalkers, and could be trusted to keep a secret.

Saheeli couldn’t help but wonder whether, in that time, Huatli’s interests had wandered to other things.

Across the arena, Saheeli’s opponents pulled a tarp off of their creation. It was humanoid, in the shape of a massive green bandar, with an extra set of shoulders and arms sitting atop its chest. It howled, and beat its breast with all four fists.

Not bad.

Saheeli flexed her fingers, and ribbons of metal began to coalesce, some off of her ornate dress, others seemingly out of the aether itself. The ribbons flowed together and began to intertwine, taking the shape she had been planning out for two weeks.

Huatli’s descriptions, her poems, were so vivid in their detail. Listening to them, Saheeli had felt like she was looking right at the other planeswalker’s world, and when she had produced rough sketches of the automaton, Huatli had approved with such enthusiasm that Saheeli was certain she’d managed to capture the essence of the creature in question.

The Tyrannosaurus.

The crowd gasped in unison as the final curls of metal spiraled into place. Six stories tall, gleaming silver and red (would Huatli notice that?). Saheeli was a bit concerned that the arms of the creature were too small to be of any use, but Huatli had been insistent about that particular detail.

The two titanic constructs rushed at one another. The tyrannosaur’s jaws clamped down hard on the bandar’s upper left shoulder, and gave it a savage twist. The bandar was almost forced to its knees, but managed to twist around and start pummeling the tyrannosaur’s side with its two right arms while the fourth tried to force the jaws open.

A promising start. Saheeli glanced over toward Huatli to see how the warrior had reacted to her newest creation.

Her heart sank. Huatli wasn’t even looking. Her head was down, and she was fiddling with something on her lap.

Saheeli cursed. This had been a bad idea for a first date. They weren’t even spending time together, really, she had just dragged Huatli here to watch her perform without considering if she would even find it inter-

Huatli glanced up, and the look of shock and concern on her face confused Saheeli for a full second before she realized Huatli was looking at her automaton. The bandar-construct had gotten its arm around the tyrannosaur and was swinging its fist into the dinosaur’s chest again and again, caving in the metal. The one of the bandar’s arms had been ripped clean by the dinosaur’s jaw, but it still had three left to freely pummel with.

Focus. Saheeli steeled herself with a breath, and made a splitting gesture with both hands. The crowd roared as the tyrannosaurus crumbled under a savage blow, splitting into over a dozen pieces.

Their roar turned quickly to gasps as each piece hit the arena floor and uncurled into new forms. Like the tyrannosaurus in miniature, with whip-like tails and wicked curved toe-claws.

The Bandar responded quicker than Saheeli expected, seizing its severed arm and sweeping it like a broom, trying to knock the raptors aside. A common tactic when one large automaton was faced with many smaller foes.

Saheeli grinned, and whistled. Delicate sensors within the raptors picked up the sound and reacted accordingly, leaping onto the bandar’s legs, and onto the arm it was attempting to wield as a weapon. They climbed the green beast, biting and scrabbling at the space between its armored plates. Gilded teeth and steel claws tore into vulnerabilities at the joints. In moments the bandar construct was stumbling, leaking aether from a score of cracks and broken ligaments.

The bandar teetered sideways and fell with a thud that shook the stands. Screeching, the raptors continued to tear it to shreds, tossing wires and plates of metal to the sand. The crowd was quiet for all of a half-second, then erupted into cheers. Huatli was standing, one foot up on the edge of the arena, pumping her arms in the air.

Saheeli ran over to her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had blushed during a match, but she suspected she might have been just then. 

“Well?” She grinned up at Huatli, shouting over the crowd. “How was it? Not too boring?”

“Boring? That was glorious!” Huatli vaulted over the side of the ring and landed right in front of Saheeli, kicking up a cloud of dust. She pulled Saheeli into a hug. Rough, but not unwelcome. “You didn’t tell me you’d tried making a polyraptor as well.”

“Ah, well, I wanted to surprise you.”

“When do they present you with the crown for your victory?”

Saheeli laughed. “This is still an informal league; we don’t do ribbons or trophies like the inventor’s fair…”

“No?” Huatli’s face fell a bit. “But then where will I read my poem?” She looked around at the arena crowd. “Here?”

“Poem?”

“Of course.” Huatli pulled several sheets of paper from the bag at her waist. “Such a battle of skill and daring deserves a poem. It’s…it’s a bit short, but I think it does your triumph justice.”

“Did…did you write that just now?”

“You were magnificent! I simply had to.”

Now Saheeli was certain she was blushing. This woman, with her easy smiles and unconcealed enthusiasm…

“Next time we can go somewhere for you to show off your poems. I know some song-writers who would love your style. Aetherborn patrons of the arts. Until then…would you mind just reading it to me?”

“It’s a date!” Huatli sidled up to Saheeli and took her arm. “Oh, but let’s do this again sometime. I think a pteradon would have been a marvelous choice against that giant goblin-creature. A ceratops might have been interesting, but that construct looked nimble enough to dodge around the charges. Maybe…”

Huatli gushed breathlessly, and Saheeli’s mind was already reeling with further possibilities for lifecrafts. It was nice to have a muse, especially one as lovely and as this.

The above is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.


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